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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1984)
Water well makes unusual landmark Reagan softens anti-Soviet stance See page 7 See page 4 3 e 'Downtown' Brown leads Ags to win i See page 11 iec! e ii ;s - luc; >nz; hai alle b< The Battalion r hm Serving the University community Vol 78 No. 75 GSRS 0453110 14 p&ges College Station, Texas Tuesday, January 17, 1984 Senate favors finals by MICHELLE POWE Staff writer The Faculty Senate voted Monday afternoon in favor of a resolution which would require'graduating seniors to take final examinations. The resolution, proposed by the Senate’s ad hoc committee on acade mic standards, calls the current policy of exempting degree candidates from final examinations “a serious com promise with fair and equitable academic standards.” A second re solution, also approved, recommends that a new policy requiring graduat ing students to take final exams be pul into effect by December 1985. The resolutions will next go to the Rules and Regulations Committee for recommendations and then back to the Senate for another vote. If the resolutions are passed by the Senate a second time, they will be sent to Uni versity President Frank E. Vandiver for final approval. Dr. Jon R. Bond, chairman of the academic standards committee, told the Senate the exemption policy en courages students to learn less in their last semester than in their other semesters. He said the policy is a tradi tion which does not make Texas A&M great. Several faculty senators objected to the notion that exemption from final exams is a right earned by graduating seniors. They called the policy anti intellectual. In its evaluation of the current policy, the academic standards com mittee cited some other faculty objec tions — obtained in a survey of faculty members — to senior exemptions: • The policy does not promote fair and equitable academic standards that facilitate learning. • The policy requires professors to evaluate students on unequal stan dards because graduating students do not have to take final exams. • Some students may manipulate their degree plans by taking an un usually large number of courses their last semester or by delaying difficult of feared courses. • Some graduating students stop attending class after the last exam. But Dr. Richard R. Davison, a.che- mical engineering professor, said the faculty’s main problem with the cur rent policy is the inconvenience of having to turn in two separate sets of grades. But, he said, he doesn’t think the inconvenience is big enough to war rant requiring seniors to take Final exams. ‘Tve been teaching seniors for 25 years and to my knowledge I haven’t been inconvenienced appreciably yet,” he said. He said students who are trying to end a four-year career should be able to end it “on a pleasant note, not with a crunch. “When students have been going to school for 16 years, I don’t believe two weeks will make a difference.” See FINALS page 10 Reaganomics not being preached A&M professor denies charges By KAREN WALLACE Staff writer j-j- j p2"j’l John Makety, Battalion staff Newspapers fly and enthusiasm soars as the Aggie team )du is introduced at the Texas A&M-Texas Wesleyan College, the Aggies won 75-67. See page 11 for related stories. The charges that Texas A&M agri cultural economic professors are us ing state funds to “preach Reagano mics” are unsubstantial. Dr. John Nichols, agricultural economics re search leader said Monday. “We do not advocate any certain policy,” Nichols said. The charges, in the form of a re solution, were brought before the State Democratic Executive Commit tee. Saturday, the committee declined to investigate because of the strong wording of the resolution and it was sent back to the Resolutions Commit tee for rewording. Wellington farmer Doug Seal, au thor of the resolution, said tliat half of the professors in the agricultural eco nomics department are clones of for mer President Herbert Hoover, and half are clones of former Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz. “The policies of the Texas A&M agricultural economics department seem- to go right down the lines Her bert Hoover and Earl Butz seemed to advocate,” Seal said. Dr. Mike McKinney, a member of the Committee, said Seal’s allegations were careless. “You can’t go around calling peo ple names,” McKinney said. “You have to be careful.” The resolution didn’t mention the names of professors using state funds to travel and “preach Reaganomics,” but Seal said he was referring to Dr. Ronald Knutson, a professor of agri cultural economics and a member of the Texas Agricultural Extension Ser vice at A&M. Seal said that Knutson served on President Ronald Reagan’s agricultu ral transition team and then came to Texas to use state money to advocate Reagan. “He wasn’t put on the team because he was- a good person, he was put on because he believes .and follows all of Reagan’s agricultural policies,” Seal said. Knutson said he doesn’t know what inspired the attack. “I’m glad to be a subject of scru tiny,” he said. “They can study all they want.” One of the agencies of the Texas Agricultural Extension Service is the extension education program. As a part of this program, it is Knutson’s job to travel and present agricultural aspects of public policies to farmers, Nichols said. So Knutson is only doing his job, he said. “We use an alternative and con sequences type of approach,” Nichols said. “We explain the impacts, con sequences, pros and cons and then let Tougher laws moderate drunk driving see charges, page 10 By KELLEY SMITH Senior stall' writer Whether they’ve changed moral and social attitudes or have just in creased drivers’ fear of being caught, several local residents feel the new state driving while intoxicated laws have caused a decrease in the amount of drunk drivers on the road. During the Christmas holiday period of Sunday through Saturday, 29arrests were made for DWI in Bur leson, Brazos and Robertson counties. Forthe similar New Year’s period, 16 arrests were made in those same counties. While the amount for the Christmas period was about the same as in previous years, the amount for the New Year’s period was about two- thirds of what it has been in the past. Sergeant Fred Forsthoff with the Department of Public Safety said the decrease for the New Year’s period partially could be a result of the pub lic’s awareness of the new laws. Some people who were too intoxicated to drive may have thought about the in creased penalties for a DWI arrest and let someone else drive, he said. The major points of the new laws, which went into effect Jan. 1, include the setting of a blood alcohol concen tration level that determines intoxica tion and the abolishment of deferred adjudication, by which past DWI charges could be removed from an offender’s record after satisfactory completion of probation. Refusal to take an intoxilyzer or blood or breath specimen now will re sult in mandatory suspension of the offender’s driver’s license. The fines and jail terms for DWI also have been increased, and jail time has been made mandatory for all offenses after the first even if the suggested punish ment is probated. During the past few weeks, For sthoff said he has seen a trend toward persons’ arranging for rides home af ter having too much to drink. Law enforcement officers have seen more intoxicated people allowing someone else, someone sober, to drive when leaving drinking establishments, he said. However, the new laws were not the only reason for the smaller num ber of arrests during the New Year period, Forsthoff said. Several orga nizations sponsored services to drive people home who were too intoxi cated to do so themselves. Kirk Brown, president of the Bra zos County Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, said volunteers from that organization drove about 20 persons home New Year’s Eve. Forsthoff also cited the cold weath er as a possible factor in the decrease during the New Year period. Dr. Wayne Wylie, committee chair man of the Holidays Ahead cam paign, said the program also helped to lessen the number of drunk drivers on the road. The campaign focused on alcohol awareness and encourag ing people not to drive while drinking without trying to keep people from drinking, he said. “It (the campaign) in conjunction with the stiffer DWI laws had a lot to do with our success,” Wylie said. Wylie, who also is co-director of the Texas A&M University Alcohol Abuse Prevention Project, said he ex pects the new laws to indirectly change behavioral patterns. The law will first change attitudes toward driv ing while intoxicated, and then even tually behavior will change resulting in much fewer drunk drivers on the road, he said. “People are becoming aware of a society that will not tolerate drunk driving,” he said. Kirk Brown, agrees with Wylie saying that “before it was socially acceptable to drink and drive in Texas, now it’s not.” However, Brown does not feel the new laws will completely eliminate drunk drivers on the roads. “The new laws brought Texas out of the dark ages and gave the enforce ment agencies, politicians and the judicial system some of the tools they need to deal with the problem,” he said. “They’re (the laws) the first step in what’s needed to curb DWI.” See DWI page 9 Officials looking at possible aid Freeze gives students problems In Today’s Battalion By RONNIE CROCKER Staff Writer Texas A&M officials are trying to find ways to help students who in curred damage to personal property because of the hard freeze that hit this area in December, but the pic ture isn’t too bright. John Honea, director of the Office of Insurance and Risk Man agement, said the University is no different than any other renter "hen it comes to being liable for damages. Thete is no legal provision forsuch liability. “Insurance is a per sonal thing,” he said. Texas law carries this a step further, however, since state lax money cannot be used for these types of repairs. The legislature appropriates the money and decides where and for what it will be spent. Honea said, “Our hands are tied.” Ron Sasse, associate director of student affairs, said last week that although he felt a moral responsibil ity to the students on-campus, he didn’t know of anything his office could do to help. Monday, Sasse said that although nothing has been discovered, it is “not a dead issue yet” as they con tinue to explore the possibile ways to help the students. Honea said his office has “looked at this thing from every angle.” Attorneys researching the statutes haven’t found anything either, he said. The damages were caused by an “act of God,” Honea said and added, “Nothing covers those.” Sasse said students need to have insurance of their own or be covered by their parents’ policies. Shelley Hoekstra, an Underwood Hall resident who suffered about $2,000 worth of damage, said she was covered by her parents’ insur ance. Her roommate, Kelly Price, was not covered. pus, bursting the pipes. When the temperature warmed, the ice melted and water gushed out. In some cases the water stood for several days. Damage was reported in at least six dormitories on campus, includ ing Legget, Haas, Underwood and one Corps dorm. Walton and Hart halls suffered the most damage. Honea said he currently is pre paring a couple of test cases to go before the Attorney General. He said he doesn’t think there is much hope in accomplishing anything there. Many students living off-campus also experienced flood damage. The off-campus housing center reported that apartment managers who lease under the standard Texas Apart ment Association form are not legal ly liable for dajnages to personal property. He said the University also suf fered damage which it will have to pay for itself. The damage was done after the record-breaking freeze during the Christmas holidays. Water froze in the pipes of many buildings on cam- The off-campus center is advis ing students to check their parents’ insurance policies to see if they are covered. Local • Members of the College Station School Board de bated the hiring of an administrative assistant in the district. See story page 3. State • Tiny bones and a scalp, believed to be those of a baby, were found in a home near Fort Worth. A suspect says he got them from a satanic worship in Indiana. See story page 7. • Former Dallas Cowboy Thomas “Hollywood” Hen derson is offering to sell his three Super Bowl rings to raise legal defense funds. See page 12. the others decide what policies they want to advocate.” Nichols said the Texas Agricultural Extension Service is funded by state funds just like teaching is funded through the state. Dr. Mike McKinney said the resolu- jj lion would not come before the Com- j mittee again. “It’s not going to come up again,” he said. “Not if I do my job it won’t. I squashed the thing up. It won’t come out of Committee.” Seal said he will continue to push for an investigation. “If the Attorney General can’t find any misuse of state funds, we plan to go to the House and Senate and if nothing happens there we’ll go to the legislative budget board and try to change the funding procedures,” Seal said. §3 i